Variational

• Swaps contest from 10 to 24 Sep 2026: $20,000 in USDC to the top 20 — 5,000 for first, 4,000 second, 3,000 third, 2,000 fourth, 1,000 fifth, 500 for 6th-10th and 250 for 11th-20th
• MIND THE GATE: to even make the leaderboard you must move 250,000+ USDC of notional volume on TradFi markets during those fourteen days. Trading swaps alone is not enough
• The score is PnL on swaps times the square root of swaps volume, so entering late costs you
• Collecting requires KYC and there are 30 days from the end to submit it: past that the prize is forfeited. One prize per person
• Weekly snapshot on Thursdays at 00:00 UTC, payout on Fridays
• At launch they handed out 3,000,000 retroactive points
• A 10% boost for accounts predating the program
• Boosts by Omni reward tier, from 0% at Iron to 5% at Infinity, through Bronze 0.5%, Silver 1%, Gold 2%, Platinum 3% and Diamond 4%
• WHAT WE WERE NOT TELLING YOU, AND IT IS HARD CASH: since 12 August 2026 the On-Chain Trader Rewards campaign has been running, paying in USDC by tier according to your rank: 3,000 points for the top 10, 1,500 from 11 to 50, 500 from 51 to 250, 200 from 251 to 1,250 and 20 from 1,251 to 10,000. Paid on Thursdays, on Arbitrum One.
• Boosts we were not giving: a flat 10% if your account predates the programme launch, and by tier — Bronze +0.5%, Silver +1%, Gold +2%, Platinum +3%, Diamond +4% and Infinity +5%.
• The maths you can do yourself, with their own Telegram numbers: they hand out 150,000 points a week across some 24,700 accounts. Three weeks running the same — «150,000 points were distributed across 24,728 accounts» in week 33, 24,880 in 32 and 25,285 in 31. That is about six points per account on average, and the average misleads: it goes by volume, so light traders take less than that.

Their docs do not publish the weekly pool, but their Telegram calls it out award by award and — this is what matters — says how many accounts share it: «For week 33 of the Omni points program, 150,000 points were distributed across 24,728 accounts». Weeks 31 and 32 were also 150,000, across 25,285 and 24,880 accounts. What is still unpublished is how many points each dollar of volume gives. Read Aug 25, 2026 on t.me/s/variational_io.

• 6 Nov · in week 46, 150,000 points credited across 32,293 accounts: about 4.6 per account on average → in week 47, 150,000 points credited across 31,959 accounts: about 4.7 per account on average
• 30 Oct · in week 45, 150,000 points credited across 32,302 accounts: about 4.6 per account on average → in week 46, 150,000 points credited across 32,293 accounts: about 4.6 per account on average
• 23 Oct · in week 44, 150,000 points credited across 32,382 accounts: about 4.6 per account on average → in week 45, 150,000 points credited across 32,302 accounts: about 4.6 per account on average
• 16 Oct · in week 43, 150,000 points credited across 31,632 accounts: about 4.7 per account on average → in week 44, 150,000 points credited across 32,382 accounts: about 4.6 per account on average
• 9 Oct · in week 42, 150,000 points credited across 31,693 accounts: about 4.7 per account on average → in week 43, 150,000 points credited across 31,632 accounts: about 4.7 per account on average
• 7 Oct · the entry only had the payout day (Friday 00:00 UTC) → Now the close too: the points week counts trading up to Thursday at 00:00 UTC. The weekly heads-up goes out for that cut-off.
• 2 Oct · in week 41, 150,000 points credited across 30,358 accounts: about 4.9 per account on average → in week 42, 150,000 points credited across 31,693 accounts: about 4.7 per account on average
• 1 Oct · the entry did not say that you get in with a code, nor what trading costs → Variational is in private beta and you get in with an access code; trading pays no fee and they earn from the spread.
• 30 Sep · the entry did not say that wallets on their list can get up to 3,000 points → Up to 3,000 points for wallets on their list of 10,000 joining for the first time, until the TGE.
• 28 Sep · the entry did not mention the swaps competition bonus → On 25 Sep Variational credited an extra 20,000 points to those who took part in its first swaps competition, in proportion to their volume.
• 28 Sep · 150,000 points credited across 25,967 accounts in week 40 → in week 41, 150,000 points credited across 30,358 accounts: about 4.9 per account on average
• 25 Sep · the docs said points ended in Q3 and $VAR was not live; the entry promised the swaps contest until 24 Sep → the docs now say Q4 2026 for the end of points and for $VAR; the closed contest leaves steps and benefits
• 24 Sep · points ended no later than the close of Q3 2026 → $VAR TGE set for Q4 2026, with 32% airdropped; the 150,000 weekly points continue until then
• 18 Sep · the last week on record was week 39: 150,000 points across 25,662 accounts → Week 40: 150,000 points credited across 25,967 accounts (about 5.8 per account).
• 16 Sep · the money mark said the On-Chain Trader Rewards campaign paid the trader 15,000 USDC, and that figure is not the trader's → Corrected: that campaign pays the trader in points — 3,000 for tier 1-10, 200 from 251 to 1,250 — and only if their address is among the 10,000 pre-selected.
• 10 Sep · we counted no contest: the ficha only talked about the weekly points → first swaps contest, $20,000 in USDC from 10 to 24 Sep, with a 250,000 USDC gate on TradFi markets and KYC to collect
• 23 Aug · we were not counting the USDC rewards campaign nor the tier boosts → Added the On-Chain Trader Rewards campaign of 12 Aug, which pays in USDC by tier according to the trader's rank.
• 14 Aug · — → verified: declared close no later than the end of Q3 2026

the US and its associated territories, Canada, Taiwan, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria and Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk and Sevastopol; and any «U.S. person» or Canadian person, wherever they live

Dragonfly Capital, Bain Capital Crypto and Coinbase Ventures, per their documentation; the round sizes are not published there

There is now a split in writing: 32% of the $VAR supply will be airdropped in proportion to points, fully unlocked at TGE, which they have set for Q4 2026. And points do not close in September as they said: they keep awarding 150,000 a week until that TGE. There is money to pay: they raised fifty million in May.

X: x.com/variational_io

Discord: discord.com/invite/variational

Docs: docs.variational.io

Checked by us in these sources on 2026-11-09